Brakes on Supercars' digital rights

Mark Fogarty

V8 SUPERCARS has put its digital media rights on hold as it attempts to salvage an interim television deal from the wreckage of its protracted bid for a new five-year agreement.

Unable to secure a substantial increase after months of negotiations with the major commercial networks, V8 chiefs are trying to secure a stopgap arrangement for the coming year and beyond. They have also stopped trying to sell the rights to V8 content for mobile phones, tablets, online streaming and internet television until the free-to-air TV deal is finalised.

On top of V8 Supercars chief executive David Malone's failure to deliver on his promise to have a new TV agreement in place by Christmas, the continued delay has increased anger and dissent among the teams. With the start of the new season just eight weeks away, the absence of confirmed TV coverage is frustrating several teams' efforts to clinch sponsorships. Already facing reduced income and increased costs this year, the teams are asking hard questions about management's handling of the TV rights negotiations.

Malone, the former head of pay TV's Fox Sports, was appointed boss of V8 Supercars at the start of last year, primarily to negotiate new deals for 2013-17 across traditional broadcast and emerging digital platforms, offering a suite of media rights originally expected to be worth at least $300 million.

Amid growing unrest among the teams, Malone has worked through the holidays to secure an interim deal. According to an unofficial source, ''two parties are involved'' in urgent talks to conclude a TV agreement in the coming week.

Fairfax Media understands they are Seven, which held the free-to-air rights from 2008-12, and pay TV network Fox Sports. The expected outcome is that the V8s will stay with Seven in a one or two-year extension, although for little or no more money and with most of the events shown on the network's secondary 7mate digital channel. Additional pay TV coverage is likely to be shown on Fox Sport's dedicated motor sport channel Speed, including the possibility of AFL-style simulcasts.

In a weak advertising market and caught in the crossfire of last year's big-money bidding for the NRL and now the new cricket broadcast rights, V8 Supercars has had to accept there will be no media rights riches in the short term.